The “Ultraman” manga series is being adapted into a 3-D CG anime for release in 2019.

The new project is co-directed by “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” director Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki, who is known for the “Appleseed” series.

It will be produced by Production I.G Inc. and Sola Digital Arts Inc.

The news was announced at an event held during Tokyo Comic Con 2017 in early December.

The original manga series, penned by Eiichi Shimizu and illustrated by Tomohiro Shimoguchi, has been running in Monthly Comic Magazine Hero’s since the publication’s inaugural issue in 2011. The comic series currently boasts more than 2.6 million copies in print.

“Ultraman” is inspired by Tsuburaya Productions Co.’s classic live-action superhero TV series of the same name featuring the gigantic superhero that protects humans from aliens and monsters. But the manga is set decades after the events depicted in the TV show.

Protagonist Shinjiro Hayata, whose father Shin was the first Ultraman, doesn’t transform into the colossal superhero like his father did. But he puts on the Ultraman suit to fight new threats.

Although Kamiyama has been working with Production I.G while Aramaki’s works have been handled by Sola, they have one thing in common: Both “Ghost in the Shell” and “Appleseed” were adapted from Shirow Masamune’s manga.

More details about “Ultraman,” as well as names of the voice cast members, will be revealed at a later date. A teaser video is available at the 3-D CG anime’s official website at (http://anime.heros-ultraman.com/).

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